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Thursday March 28, 2024

‘Society to be purged of terror with army’s help’

LAHORE: Despite facing multiple challenges, including terrorism and corruption, Punjab Police have been trying hard to bring substantial reforms in the department not only to protect lives and properties of the masses but also to solve heinous cases on modern lines.Inspector General of Police Punjab Mushtaq Ahmad Sukhera expressed these

By Arshad Dogar
April 22, 2015
LAHORE: Despite facing multiple challenges, including terrorism and corruption, Punjab Police have been trying hard to bring substantial reforms in the department not only to protect lives and properties of the masses but also to solve heinous cases on modern lines.
Inspector General of Police Punjab Mushtaq Ahmad Sukhera expressed these views during an interview with The News at his office Monday. The IG was determined to root out terrorism from society through effective coordination with army and its sister agencies. Punjab Police have strictly been following the roadmap given by the government under National Action Plan (NAP), the IG said.
He said the highly-trained cops of Corporal Force had started taking action against anti-state elements by registering FIRs and investigating the terrorism related cases. To a question, the IG said the Corporals have also been monitoring the activities of suspected persons and they have the authority to even detain them. District police have been giving them specific cases related to terrorism so that the terrorists’ networks could be uprooted. Sukhera lauded the support of provincial and federal government and army in implementing 18-point agenda of the NAP.
The official data available with this correspondent shows that Punjab Police have apprehended 185 activists of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, one of Daish and eight of Tehreek-e-Taliban-Pakistan during the first four months of the current year.
Special teams of law enforcement agencies registered cases against 703 Afghans under Foreign Act and arrested 1,430 suspects, who failed to prove their legal status and identity. Police took action against 844 accused persons of 4th schedule, firebrand speakers and hardcore/facilitators/abettors in nine regions of Punjab Police and the provincial metropolis.
Sukhera said Pakistan Army was on board to take action against terrorists and miscreants, adding that the special teams of law enforcement agencies had so far conducted 15,685 combing search operations in 23,204 localities and questioned over 362,884 persons.
About change in thana culture, IG said they had been focusing on elimination of four menaces from the police that include indifferent/rude behaviour, non-registration of cases, faulty investigations and corruption. He said the Punjab government was committed to bring reforms in the police culture through a phased programme. In the first phase, Sukhera said police had set up 10 Computerised Complaint Handling Centres (CCHCs) in Lahore as a pilot project to ensure comfortable environment/behaviour with the complainants and timely registration of FIRs. Once this project proved successful, it would be replicated in 700 police stations of the province within a year. IG Punjab went on to say that the remaining two problems of Police Department would be solved through highly trained 1,000 investigators and advance payment of investigation expenses on heinous crimes, including murders and kidnapping for ransom. A number of police officers have got training to deal with the cases of homicide at Punjab Forensic Science Agency for the purpose, IG told.
Talking about the poor infrastructure of police stations, he said more than 80 percent of the development budget in the upcoming fiscal year would be specified for the improvement of the police station buildings instead of residences etc.
To a query about the welfare of the cops’ families, Sukhera said through new rules, the payment of funds for the incompetent children of officers had been stopped. He added the cops’ children, who would secure 65 percent marks, would be eligible for scholarships irrespective of ranks. The same rules would be applied at district level by making the welfare funds distribution centralised in the next phase, he maintained.
Giving answers to the questions related to high profile cases, including Model Town tragedy, Kot Radha Kishan incident and Yuhannabad, Sukhera claimed the cases would be taken to a logical end, saying that there was a substantial progress in the investigations of the said cases.
Admitting the poor response of police against emergencies, IG said Rescue 15 was being thoroughly overhauled and an officer of an SP rank would be made incharge of the helpline to ensure timely action. ‘Police officers and officials have to stop selected favouritism to uphold the rule of law in its true spirit’, the IGP concluded.